Galatians 5:25-26; 6:1-5 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.
We are to carry our own load, living responsible to our cross and true to our journey. We must beware when we look too much to our brother's garden, complaining about his weeds, his lack of organization, and his unacceptable presentation to the world. Instead, our primary concern is to tend our garden, to carry the load God has given us. Rather than thinking we have all the answers to life, we must stop and think about who God is and who we are not. We read in the Bible: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8) We are not God; we follow him the best we can as we hear his Spirit in us and ingest his Word into our lives. In today's focus, we hear Paul closing his dissertation on grace and works with these words, Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Or, let us not think because we have the right theology on grace and works that we can lord it over those who have less knowledge or understanding, for this is exactly what those people who were preaching circumcision did. They said that those who believed in the unmerited favor from God as the final work of salvation were lesser Christians because they rejected the additional act of circumcision as a necessary action by men to please God. They were Christians without the whole truth, the pure truth. Undoubtedly, some of the circumcision brethren labeled those as nonChristians who believed in the efficacy of grace without circumcision. Their skewed theology was destroying the community of believers in Galatia, leading believers back to the law for righteousness, rather than to the completed work of Christ and the cross. No wonder Paul challenges them to keep in step with the Spirit. He knew the conflicts in the church would lead to division and a lack of the fruit of the Spirit. He also knew God's promise to bring a new covenant to his people: This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Hebrews 8:10) Chaos in the church would not usher in the perfect will of God.
Paul wants the church to walk in the light of God's new covenant. He asks the Galatians to consider the law of Christ in everything they do, even in their judgments of others because of theological differences. Jesus said the second commandment was, Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) But we know that He did not stop there. He also said in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" (Matthew 5:43-47) If someone is caught in a belief that leads him to sin, believers are to restore that person back to the truth in a gentle manner. Of course, we do not dismiss the sin or corrupting lifestyle as harmless, for all unrighteousness will lead to death; but we are to be loving in our corrections and help. The errant circumcision believers were destroying the flock with their harsh judgments about those who believed in grace as the complete work. They were not gentle at all, they lacked the law of Christ in their hearts. They were willing to destroy rather than build up. Paul knew their spirit contained the works of the flesh, not the works of Jesus. He was very direct with them because they were destructive, not displaying the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of the flesh. He boldly called them out on their sinful behavior, but he called them according to a standard of love. When Paul spoke to the entire church, he said, You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13-15) He warned the church because he wanted them to walk in the freedom of Christ their Savior.
In today's verses, Paul says, watch yourself, to the Galatians. He wants them to take care when they help others find their way out of sin or wrongful thinking. This teaching stands true for us: we all struggle. If we are too bold and too sure of ourselves, we might find ourselves in the same self-willed sin of destroying others rather than correcting or saving them. Instead of carrying the burdens and dysfunctions of others as Christ has showered us with his unmerited favor and endless love, we can become harsh and judgmental. Paul says, don't think of yourselves too highly, as if you have all the answers, for you are but flesh, not knowing the complete mind of God. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul emphatically states that righteousness comes from Christ's work and not our own. We are God's children because of his grace and mercy and not our good deeds. In the beginning section of his letter, he made this clear: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:20-21) Consequently, at the end of his argument, he asks us to be gracious and loving in dealing with the unloving, the careless, the wayward. He instructs us to restore them out of love, not out of condemnation or judgment. God is love. (1 John 4:8) Sometimes, we reflect the opposite of love when we see a world of seemingly hopeless destruction. We stand on the other side of the fence of grace and yell, "Why don't you change!" But we are as the sinners are when we do that. We need to find a way to open up a gate in the fence, to come alongside of them, to lift them up gently, to help them with acts of love, to point them to the grace and mercy of God. This is keeping in step with the Spirit; this is fulfilling Christ's law of love, this is bearing each other's burdens; this is carrying our load. God bless you!
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